The best part of the day occurred when I resolved my major issue of the day: I wanted to keep reading my new book, Portrait in Sepia, by Isabelle Allende, but I also felt massive guilt for ignoring my kids for so long. Finally, I realized the obvious: It was a beautiful day, and I could just read outside on a chair in the shade while the kids played.
We don’t have any toys or play equipment outside, and I wanted them to entertain themselves for a long time. So I instructed them to hunt for fairies. Lydia took that so seriously and for the next couple hours narrated to me all details of her fairy hunt. She was so enamored with the fairies that she’d coaxed from our magic tree that she refused to eat dinner and instead ran upstairs to have a dance party with them. During dinner, she kept showing up and asking us how we liked this article of clothing or that piece of jewelry that the fairies had bestowed on her. I think we’ll play this game every day.
